I’ve been full time for over six months on Wyruna, with some time off for various reasons – including COVID, some holidays etc. It has been great, but of course the detail work involving a few thousand copper nails, lots of plank refurbishment has felt like wading through molasses from time to time. But we have made some fantastic progress, and while there is plenty more to do, it is coming together in the right shape.
In the last week, we have reached the point where the external frame put in place by Ferdi that was used to bend the boat back into shape, and then support it as we replaced the internal structures, came off. This was to allow us to put the final refurbished planks back on, room for the beam shelves and ultimately deck beams.
The boat also has sufficient strength/integrity to hold itself together, with some cross bracing to ensure it doesn’t follow its natural tendency to flatten out. So far, it has been holding well. The plan should see us having the upper beam shelves in shortly. I am learning not to put a time frame on things!
Some things to note in this picture. The battens joining the stem mark the top of the shear strake, and are a little higher towards the bow than the original shear line. There is one plank to go on each side at this point, before the shear strake. We have used this to set the height of the lower deck beam, to enable these planks to be fastened next. Lots of work to get to this point it feels! Some may notice some glue that has not been cleared (hood ends on the port side in particular). The topside planks have been glued down to each other. They are very narrow, and aren’t considered to swell considerably once in place, and it will ensure a fair finish once complete.
Separately, you can see the work being completed on Vanessa (to the port of Wyruna), which is undergoing a refastening of most of the copper nails, and some rib replacements. Vanessa is a 1922 built William Fife 8 metre racing yacht, and an interesting contrast to Wyruna’s slightly older design and more ‘auxilliary’ lines.
While we have used as much of the original kauri planking as possible, some will require replacing. There is one ‘new’ plank end in this picture, from timber helpfully supplied by the previous owner. Kauri of the right width and thickness has been difficult to source for the wider planks. Floorboards are now rarer (in the necessary dimensions), as they are either too thin when wide enough, or not wide enough when thick enough. By some good luck, I have purchased some desktops that were from some cabinets out of the State Library of Victoria, that should provide for sufficient timber for the planks to be replaced in kauri. The planks requiring replacing are predominantly where the props supporting the boat were punched through in a wind storm that really started the sorry demise of Wyruna. There are 8 replacement sections all up, (not including the shear strakes), generally less than 4 metres long. Out of the original kauri, we will retain about 85% (by metre). The lower planks (garboard plus two above) were hardwood, and will be replaced by new timber, as these have degraded materially and are also more vital structurally. Only one on each side remains on the boat in the picture above.
How the boat looks internally, with the braces removed and most of the planking now complete. The temporary cross braces can be seen here. Before setting final beam shelves and deck beams, we will measure for accuracy.
Standing in the bow.
Standing on the transom, looking forward. Feels like good progress. When contrasted with this…
Image from a similar position, from about March 2020. Still a lot of removal required at this point, obviously!
Internal view of the bow area. Still a lot of clean up work, but the structure is emerging. This is before we took the final old timber out, being the upper beam shelf. Spent a lot of time here in the past few months.
